The Dragon and the Princess
by moronicat
Summary: ..:His eyes traveled over her face. She was smiling at him even after she was damned to be with him for eternity.:.. AU UlquiHime
1. Chapter 1

The mountains used to be a very beautiful place loved by many. The foot of the mountains were full of minerals. At least, that was what it was originally to be said.

Before anything was contradicted, many people would go to dig for the minerals. The city of Kyoto was prospering because of the mountains. But everything changed when the princess was born. People would complain about the sounds of wings, screaming, and the way the animals acted strangely. The people of Kyoto stopped going to the mountains in fear of having their life taken away and with good reason, too.

"I heard the screaming again last night."

"So did I. I was going to look for one of my lost cattle in the forest. I looked everywhere and I was getting closer to the mountain. The screaming was terrible. I swear I have never been so scared in my life."

These conversations were getting familiar around Kyoto. And these incidents had only been going around for four months. One thing was for sure. People were starting to link the incident with the princess.

"Everything was normal and okay until the princess was born."

"You're right! Maybe she brought this beast here?"

"How can we know that is certain?"

All conversations pertaining the statement and the accusations were dropped. Yet everyone still questioned themselves about it.

Soon it became an everyday thing. People were not so much frightened about the mountains anymore but just slightly wary about them. No one brought them up anymore after a few more years had passed. The main product of profits changed from minerals to rice. There was no need or want to go to the mountains anymore.

Ever since the transition and change, the noises and unwanted disturbances died down. Once again, the town of Kyoto lived in peace and the prosperity grew to desirable heights.

A few more years passed, and the princess was now ten. She was full of energy, always going around in her palace, playing with the samurai guards and causing her caretaker a lot of trouble.

Nobody knew this, but the princess liked to sneak out of her family's compound and into the forest. She loved the wild things, the beauty of everything. She loved the freedom she had in the forest. She loved the way she could go and dance around the trees. The way she could sing and twirl until she got dizzy. She liked the fact that she could chase around the butterflies that tried their best to stay away from her. She liked the privacy the place gave her.

If only she knew that a pair of green eyes were looking at her all of the time. They watched her with curiosity as she roleplayed with the trees and the animals. They watched her as she talked to the birds that flew over her head. They watched her as she ran around; her geta's* would be long forgotten beside her favorite tree.

If only she knew that the person watching her longed to play with her.

* Geta's are Japanese shoes used in more ancient Japan. Look it up for more information.

* * *

**(A/N): **Well, hello there fanfiction readers. I hope you have enjoyed the starting chapter although it is short. The next chapter will be longer, I am sure. At least I will try to make it so. Anyway, leave me your feedback. It is very well appreciated.

**Thank you!**

**-MC  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Please view this in the 3/4 view. It makes it look pretty. (And longer. Hahaha.)**

* * *

"Where were you, child?"

The young boy looked down to his feet and looked back up again at the mighty man before him. The man's eyes were hard, calculating, evil. They made the boy shiver in his very coat. He was afraid of this man.

"I-I was," came his meek voice. "I-I was in th-the forest, sir."

"Doing what, Ulquiorra? What could you _possibly _need to do in the forest? Please. Enlighten me."

Ulquiorra gulped and tried his hardest not to avert his gaze. "I-I was just walking around, sir. I-I was g-getting t-tired of practicing, s-so I thought that a-a little walk wouldn't do m-me any bad."

The man stood up gracefully and strutted around the young boy.

"Is that so?" He asked, running his hand through his slicked hair. "Is that so?" He repeated again. He stopped in front of Ulquiorra and put his hand under the boys pale chin. "Do you think I believe you? Do you really think I believe you?"

He looked away from his compassionless eyes. "No, sir."

The man let Ulquiorra's chin go. Instead, his hands landed on thin, frail shoulders. "And if I may ask, who is that young girl with the copper hair? Is she your friend?"

He shook his head. "N-no, sir."

The man pondered for a moment. "I see. So that means you won't mind if something happened to her. You see, I don't _like_ it when people lie to me. Instead of having you suffer for it, I'll just make her suffer. How does that sound, hm?"

He looked up at the man in fear and shook his head. "No, please! She has done nothing!" He went for his arm as he walked towards the entrance.

"Do not-" he said as he roughly shoved the young boy away. "-touch me." Ulquiorra lost his balance and fell down. "I do as I please. Remember that, my boy. Now leave," he said and sat back down on his throne.

The meek boy nodded and ran out of the throne room. The sooner he was away from that frightening man, the better. He was afraid of him. His menacing brown eyes were something to fear. Aizen was a man of power; he was a man of intimidation.

Shoving the thoughts out of his mind, he ran into his room and closed the door behind him. He put his back onto the wall and sighed a great breath of relief. While he did not want to admit it, he felt like going back to see the girl again even if it was too early for her to be out like she normally was.

It was worth a try, was it not?

'You are being a fool, Ulquiorra,' the rational voice in his head said as he reopened the sliding door in his room. He knew it was true, and for a moment, he felt the fear seep into him again.

"Maybe I should wait," he said out loud to no one in particular.

"That would perhaps be wise," someone else responded. He looked up to see Gin who was smiling at him.

Inwardly, he couldn't help but shiver.

* * *

"Princess Orihime! Please stop moving!"

Orihime moved around, finding it hard to keep still enough for her caretaker to finish dressing her.

"I want to go outside, Matsumoto-san! Please!"

The busty woman sighed and tried to finish tying the silk obi behind the small girl.

"You are not allowed to go without the outer part of your kimono. That would be highly distasteful of you, Princess Orihime. Wouldn't that embarrass you?"

Orihime sat still for a while and thought about it. Matsumoto _did _have a point. What would the samurai trainee's say? What would her parents think of her? What of Rukia? She would most likely be embarrassed. The young girl did not want that.

"You do have a point… But that still doesn't mean I _don't_ want to go outside! Please hurry! Rukia is waiting to play. I don't want her to wait!"

Matsumoto laughed as she gave the finishing touches to her kimono. She finally moved to grab a brush for her short hair. "Oh, Princess Orihime. You have to be patient! Besides, I am quite sure Kuchiki-san is out there with Tatsuki-chan at this moment, waiting for you to play. Just be patient, child. You will be ready to go out soon."

Orihime always hated this part of the day. She hated having to wait to get dressed with layers and layers of clothing. More often than not, she would complain to her caretaker that it was too hot and sweaty under all of the clothing. She tried once to go out without half of her clothing only to be chastised by her mother. Unfortunately, the time she actually tried doing that was during an important celebration. Things did not go well and her mother stopped talking to her for a few days.

"There," Matsumoto said as she finished applying the last details of Orihime's dress. She took a step back and smiled. "Now we may go outside."

Orihime squealed in delight and took of running. Soon Matsumoto lost sight of her as well as the sound of clacking geta's.

"Why must I do this all of the time?" She thought out loud. Slowly, the beautiful woman sauntered behind the young girl, making sure every once in a while to look around in case she saw the rest of the royal family. Eventually, she saw the prince standing outside in the garden while he spoke to another royal. From what she could see, it was the Kuchiki noble.

Before she could keep on walking, from the inside of the imperial palace, she could see Barragan. He was looking at Orihime as he walked outside and toward Matsumoto.

"Good afternoon, Barragan-sama. How do you do?" She bowed before him and kept her gaze averted from him.

Normally, she would quickly run away from the older man. He frightened her a lot. The way he looked at people; treated people. He was a silent man, of course, but when he did speak, the only thing that would come out would be hypocritical words laced with venom. It made her shiver, truth be told.

As of late, she had been observing him whenever she saw him. Barragan always seemed to be around Orihime when she was in a public place. In fact, she had caught him once looking through her door while she slept. His reasoning was that he wanted to make sure she was asleep. She didn't believe him in the slightest.

"I am well. Thank you for asking Matsumoto-san," he kindly and respectfully nodded his head as she bowed lowly. If she had the choice, she wouldn't even give him her time. But what was to be done? She was the servant. He was the king's trusted advisor and close friend.

"Do you know if the emperor has returned yet?"

The redhead shook her head and kept her gaze down.

"No, I have not received word. I believe it will still take them a few more days. If you excuse me, Barragan-sama, I need to go look after the girls." She gave another bow and slowly walked away from him.

She passed the young prince and his friends down further until she saw the three girls talking to each other animatedly.

"Oh, you should have seen it, Orihime-chan! They were amazing! They had gotten so much better from when they started. I wish I could go and train with them, but my roots don't allow me to go with that. Either way, if I wasn't a shadow lurker, my gender would most likely have gotten me killed for even asking."

Orihime smiled. "Oh, don't say that Tatsuki. I am the princess after all. I think I might be able to ask father if you could at least observe them or get special lessons. What do you think, Rukia-chan?"

The tiny noble smiled back. "Of course! Either way, why would you want to be with all of those stinky boys?"

Tatsuki's noise scrunched up slightly. "If I want to get that training, then I want to get accepted on my own. Besides, some of those 'stinky boys' you speak of are my friends."

Rukia giggled. "Friends? Yeah, right! Why were you looking at that other boy that way, huh?"

"It's called admiration!"

Orihime and Rukia giggled at the broad girl and gave her a pat on the back.

Matsumoto looked at them and smiled, quietly deciding to walk over to one of the neatly trimmed bushes. Looking at them, she couldn't help but to feel happy for these young girls, able to feel happiness and not have to worry about when they would eat or where they were going to get the food. She was truly happy for them.

She could see each and every one of those girls getting married and having children. She could see each of them having at least one child. She could see them having a large home or a cozy one where they will raise their children and wait happily for their husbands to come home.

In all honesty, as she thought of this, she felt a deep and disturbing feeling inside her chest, as if something were telling her that all of her wishes were made upon fallen stars. She looked at all of their cheerful faces and knew that things would not be that way. Her intuitions had the uncanny ability to always be correct.

* * *

Somehow, she always got away with it. Ever since she was seven, she has always been able to get away from her room and out to the forest. She supposed it was because the samurai guards didn't have much to worry about. There was not much crime directed at the imperial palace of the Inoue family. She supposed it was because of her parent's fair ruling. Or the lack of ruling. They weren't around much.

She squealed as she tripped with one of her geta's. She angrily grabbed it with her hand and made her way to a secret little entrance she had made on the gate. Actually, it had been there before. The architects seemed to have ignored that hole a little too long. From what she found out, that had been made years before she was even born. Not that she complained, really. She was glad she found that hole while playing with Tatsuki.

She threw her shoe through the hole in the gate and crawled out to the thicker grass in the outside. She proceeded to get up and make her way to her usual place. There was a clearing a mile or so away from the palace. It usually didn't take long for her to get there if she ran. But today, she felt like walking. She wanted to hug her sleeping yukata to herself and let the cool air of autumn wash over her.

She walked the little path that she herself made and looked at the floor. There was something missing today that she usually felt. She wasn't sure, but with every step that she took, she felt the need to go back from where she came from.

Deciding that she did not want to break her daily traditions, she moved on forward. After what seemed like an eternity, she made it to the clearing where a small log beckoned her to sit on it. She sighed as she looked at it and finally decided to sit on it.

"Why do I feel like there is something missing, Mr. Tree?" She asked. The tree remained silent since it couldn't really speak.

"Yeah, I don't know either," she replied to the silent tree while putting a few strands of hair behind her ear.

She hugged herself and sadly stared down. Something was missing; she felt lonely.

* * *

**(A/N:) **Well, sorry to those who I told that I was going to update last Friday or whenever I promised I would update. I lied. But I at least updated now, right?

The next chapter will for sure be _a lot_ longer. I won't be able to update until December. Dual credit college is lame. I have to write a five to seven page research paper by the 29th of this month. Not only that, but I am have to take a tedious test in History that I haven't even started reading the chapters for. Besides, I have been putting of a lot of journalism papers just to write this. I need to catch up. Sorry, but I will attempt to make it longer than this one. My goal will be ten pages, people. That is a lot considering I am not one of those writers who can write much at all. Seriously.

Anyway, as for the story, right now, the main characters are children. Young children. Ulquiorra has emotions because he is a human. Later on, I plan to change his personality to the one we are all used to. As you can see, Orihime's family is still alive and well. There is a reason for that. I am well aware that I could have made her into a commoner, but I thought it would be interesting to put her as a princess. The rest of the characters have an essential role. Some more than others. I hope to get some character development done properly. Wish me luck!

I thank those who reviewed, added this story to their favorites, those that added it to their alerts, and those who took their time to read my atrocity. I love you all.

Please review! I love feedback. I would really appreciate it if there were a few of you who would critique my writing and tell me what you think.

Take care people! Until the first of December!

-MC


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